stony 4 for the prompt meme
Prompt: “Do you…well…I mean…I could give you a massage?”
Author’s note: I didn’t realize the prompt post said “drabble” so this is a bit long I’m sorry lmao. Also this is a little weird bear with me?
They're in Tony's lab. They spend most of their downtime here, Tony tweaking and repairing his suit while Steve pretends to be interested, though Tony sees the book in Steve's hand he clearly would rather be reading and knows he's just trying to be polite. He wonders why Steve spends so much time down here when he could be doing other things, but appreciates the company and doesn't say anything.
They work in silence until Steve lets out a long, over-dramatic groan. It's the third one in the last five minutes and Tony finally caves, setting down his tools and turning away from his work station to look at Steve, who's slumped back in a chair.
"You okay over there?" He asks, brows furrowed in confusion. Steve nods slowly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah, I just hit something in my fall during yesterday's mission and it kind of messed up my back." He says.
"Maybe you should see a doctor?" Tony offers.
"No, it'll heal, it's just sore in the mean time." Steve says. Tony doesn't really know how to respond, isn't sure what Steve is asking for. He's about to turn back to his work when he sees Steve still touching the back of his neck, wincing in pain.
“Do you…well…I mean…I could give you a massage?”
If that's what Steve had been hoping to hear, he doesn't show it. He looks at Tony in surprise for a moment, but then shrugs, saying
"That could work," and pulling off his shirt.
This throws Tony off, as he had just offered to be polite. Now he has a shirtless Steve hovering over him, offering his shirt, and sitting down in the chair in front of him.
"Wait, really?" Tony asks, amused. He looks at Steve, the muscles moving in his shoulders, thinks about touching him. It's not a good idea.
It's really not a good idea.
"Why not? It couldn't hurt." Steve says.
"Right, okay." Tony says against his better judgement.
He puts his hands on Steve's shoulders and is greeted with warmth. Steve immediately relaxes into Tony's touch, as if trusting him to do the right thing. This scares Tony, more than flinching away would have hurt him, but he continues, running his thumbs along either side of Steve's spine. Between Steve's warm skin and gentle breaths, Tony starts to zone out; he feels in his fingertips the day they first met, thinks about the way he treated Steve back then, and how he wished he could take it back.
Tony freezes at the sound of Steve's voice, coming back to reality. He looks down to see Steve looking up at him, head tilted back between Tony's hands on either side of his head. He looks soft, faded, like he'd just woken up.
"Can I kiss you?" He asks. Tony's throat goes dry, startled by the question.
"You want to kiss me?" He responds, baffled. Steve laughs, moving away from Tony's grasp to stand up and face him.
"Come on Tony, surely you've noticed. How I'm virtually the only one who's ever down here with you? The way I watch you work? Not that I haven't tried not to be weird about it, I bring a book with me, but I always end up distracted," He shrugs, not looking ashamed, although maybe a bit embarrassed. Tony mouths the word 'oh,' feeling stupid.
He's been fighting down possible feelings for Steve for years now while Steve seems to have been actively pursuing them. He wishes he'd known.
"I wish I'd known." He says out loud. Across from him, Steve smiles.
"Well you do now. So, can I kiss you?"
[send me a pairing and a number and i’ll write you a drabble]
